I had my parents and youngest sister over for dinner last night. I felt like cooking, they didn't, so I won. Fortunately I was at the store when this was all decided and was able to peruse the grocery section for a while as I decided what I would make. Even though it was only four of us, I anticipated the love of delicious leftovers my roommate and I share, and so I wanted to make sure there was plenty to go around and then some. I'm not always one for recipes, so I improvise when not feeling like sticking to one. So what did I make?
Pasta! Rigatoni a la Dawn.
I caramelized some diced sweet onion and a couple garlic gloves. I then medallioned Italian sausage links and browned them. I used mild because that's what my family prefers. If it had been my roommate and I, I would have gone with spicy. Your choice, really. I also like sage sausage, but I have a hard time finding it sometimes. Since I had short notice to put on this meal, I used tomato basil sauce from a jar and spiced it up from my spice rack. Stirred in with all the deliciousness that the sausage, onions, and garlic had to offer, I say it turned out wonderfully. I then stirred it into the cooked rigatoni. It was all then spread into a casserole pan and topped with enough mozzarella cheese to make a person's head spin. I put it in the oven to melt and brown a bit. It ended up being delicious. Of course. Rave reviews from the fam, and very easy to put together.
On the veggie side, I had asparagus which was put in the oven after covering with evoo and sprinkling with sea salt. I also took the rest of my onion and put it on the stove in a covered frying pan with sliced up yellow squash and zucchini sprinkled with just a bit of evoo, sea salt, and pepper until it gets really soft.
Then I had bought some fresh Italian bread, rubbed evoo on it and sprinkled it with garlic salt before placing it in the oven to warm up.
All in all, a delicious, quick, and easy meal that pleased even my picky little sister. Maybe accented by the fact that it was about 60 degrees outside. Maybe I should have fired up the grill...? :)
Side note: I will try to post pictures of food that I discuss if I can, but I unfortunately forgot about it in my speedy cooking last night. Sorry!
